As the son of a former Ohio State center, Johnny Lowdermilk grew up around the Buckeyes football program and has dreamed of following in his father's footsteps by suiting up for the Scarlet and Gray.

Lowdermilk, son of Kirk Lowdermilk, who played at Ohio State from 1980-1984 before spending 12 years in the NFL, holds five scholarship offers and has drawn plenty of interest from the Buckeyes. He said he's not using his father's influence to encourage Ohio State to extend a scholarship offer.

"He stays out of it," said the 6-foot, 200-pound linebacker from Carrollton High School in Ohio. "I mean, he gives me advice, but me and him both want them to recruit me because I'm a good enough player, not because of him."

Air Force, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Youngstown State already have made their pitch for Lowdermilk's services.

This fall he attended two games at Ohio State and one at Kent State.

"I went to Ohio State versus Miami and Ohio State versus Eastern Michigan and also Kent State versus Akron," he said. "I'm going to a Toledo game soon. I'm not sure when and I will probably go to a couple more Buckeye games."

Lowdermilk, who recorded 100 tackles as a junior and already has 85 tackles in eight games this season, said the Buckeyes are recruiting him to play the "Star" linebacker spot, currently filled by Tyler Moeller.

"Coach (Jim) Bollman calls me once a week," he said. "He said I'm high on their recruiting board and might get an offer. I don't know what's going to happen. If it happens, that would be cool."

Ohio State's interest in Lowdermilk began after a strong summer camp performance.

"They always sent me game invites last year but they didn't start to recruit me as much then as they do now," he said. "It's really cool. It definitely would be a dream come true. I would love to follow my dad's footsteps."

Lowdermilk, who doubles as his team's quarterback, said things aren't going so well for Carrollton this season. The team is 4-4 overall, despite his performance under center.

He's thrown for over 1,000 yards and rushed for another 750 and has 21 total touchdowns.

"In passing, my decision making (is better)," he said. "Sometimes I try to force things and make things happen when it's not there and I think I have matured in that aspect of the game. I have gotten a lot stronger and faster, too."